Why I chose a career in law firm marketing instead of professional sports.
It was 10th grade, I remember the day, I was invited down to the guidance counselor’s office to plan my course work for my junior and senior years. It kind of went like this:
“So Jayne, have you been thinking about what you want to do after high school? What college you might want to attend? Do you want to be a teacher? A nurse? A secretary?”
UGH! Those three choices were not at all what I had in mind.
I thought I wanted to be a professional tennis player or cheerleader. Unfortunately I knew that I didn’t play tennis very well and professional cheerleading didn’t exist in those days. So, I told him I’d thought about civil engineering. You know, learn how to build stuff like roads and bridges.
Not a field he’d recommend for a young woman.
So I suggested that maybe I could be an artist.
“Oh, an art teacher! That’s great!”
“No, not an art teacher –an ARTIST.”
Needless to say the meeting didn’t go real well. We compromised. I signed up for art electives for my remaining years in high school and I eventually went on to study fashion design and art.
(Now, had I known that a career in law firm marketing was a possibility perhaps the course of events would have changed :-).)
But, alas, I went on to get a B.A. in Fine Art and eventually learned how to play tennis. I worked in an art museum, tried my hand at being an art teacher, moved on to become an art director for film and video productions, and finally the moment arrived that changed my career path forever; I became a law firm marketing director.
Always one to love a challenge and be around intelligent, stimulating issues and people, I never looked back. Well, sometimes, but the fine artist in me will have to wait. And sadly, professional cheerleading is no longer an option.
Meanwhile, I’m excited to put my years of in-the-trenches law firm experience to pen and paper (well to keyboard and screen) here on the Virtual Marketing Officer blog and to inject new ideas and energy into the marketing of law firm practices. I still love design and know just enough of Photoshop and Illustrator to be dangerous. I have translated my desire to build infrastructure to building websites and blogs by starting my own company, LawGravity LLC.
You can find out more about my company at www.lawgravity.com